Canneloni Flavor Over Spinach Fettuccine Recipes

SPINACH RICOTTA CANNELLONI

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion, cook for 2 - 3 minutes until translucent. Add tomato, water, salt and pepper.
• Stir, reduce heat to medium, simmer for 5 minutes. Optional: add 1/2 cup water and blend sauce until smooth (I do this for guests!).
• Stir through basil or dried herbs. Set aside.
• Place spinach in a colander and press out most of the liquid (don't need to thoroughly squeeze dry).
• Place Spinach in bowl with remaining Filling ingredients. Mix, taste, adjust salt and pepper to taste (different cheeses have different saltiness).
• Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
• Choose a baking pan which will comfortably fit about 20 cannelloni - mine is 21 x 26 cm / 8.5 x 10.5".
• Spread a bit of Sauce on the base.
• Transfer Filling to a piping bag with a large nozzle (that fits in the tubes), or use a strong ziplock bag. Or do this step using a knife (it's a bit tedious though!).
• Pipe the filling into the tubes. Place in baking dish.
• Pour over remaining Sauce, covering all the tubes. Cover with foil, then bake for 25 minutes.
• Remove foil, scatter over cheese. Return to oven for 10 minutes until cheese is melted.
• Serve, garnished with extra basil if desired.

GREEN CANNELONI STUFFED WITH RICOTTA CHEESE AND SPINACH

Steps:

• Cut pasta into 5-inch squares and parboil in water for a minute or a minute and a half. Transfer to a bowl of cold water. Spread in one layer over cloth towels. Make Bechamel Sauce: Melt butter, stir in flour and add milk slowly. Heat until mixture thickens. Set aside. Make Spinach: Parboil spinach leaves until just wilted. Drain. Cool and squeeze out moisture and chop. Saute 1/3 cup minced shallots in 2 tablespoons butter. Add parboiled spinach and saute gently until spinach has absorbed butter. Season with salt and pepper. Make Ricotta Filling: Blend ricotta cheese with parmesan. Add eggs and egg yolks and spinach filling. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. To assemble: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a large gratin dish or two smaller ones. (Canneloni are baked in a single layer, snuggly set-in but not overlapping). Spoon some filling down the center of a parboiled pasta square, spread to 1/2-inch of edges, roll up and transfer, seam side down to the gratin dish. Ladle Bechamel over top and sprinkle with 1/3 cup grated Parmesan. Dot with 4 tablespoons chilled cubed butter and bake on upper center rack of oven for 15 minutes or until bubbling. Let stand 15 minutes before serving. Can serve with extra grated Parmesan.

CANNELLONI WITH SPINACH, RAISINS AND PINE NUTS

Steps:

• If using fresh spinach, rinse but do not drain. Cook, covered in a large saucepan over medium heat in the water clinging to the leaves, till wilted, about 4-5 minutes, stirring a few times.
• Transfer the spinach to a colander and drain, when cool enough to handle, squeeze out the excess moisture. finely chop the spinach. (if using frozen, thaw and press out excess moisture).
• Heat 2 T of the olive oil in a large skillet over low heat.
• Add the garlic, pine nuts, raisins and ham, if using, and cook till the pine nuts and garlic are golden, 3-5 minutes.
• Add the chopped spinach and cook for about 1 minute, stirring to distribute all the ingredients evenly.
• Season the spinach with salt and pepper to taste, transfer it to a bowl and set aside.
• Melt the butter with the remaining 1 T olive oil in a heavy, medium sized saucepan over medium low heat.
• Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking for about 2 minutes.
• Add the milk in a steady stream, and bring to a boil over high heat, whisking constantly.
• Reduce the heat to low and simmer, whisking occasionally, till the sauce thickens, about 2 minutes.
• Stir in the nutmeg and season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Set about 1/2 cup of the spinach mixture aside.
• To finish off the filling, stir 2/3 cup of the sauce into the remaining spinach, set the rest of the sauce aside.
• Preheat oven to 400°F; lightly butter a 12x9 gratin dish or shallow ceramic baking dish.
• Bring 5-6 quarts water to a boil over high heat.
• Place a large bowl of ice water next to the pot.
• Working in two batches, boil the sheets of pasta, stirring to separate them, till al dente - about 2 minutes for fresh pasta and about 6 minutes for no boil lasagna noodles.
• Using tongs, transfer the noodles to the ice water to stop the cooking.
• Lift the noodles from the water, shaking off excess and lay them flat on a dry linen towel.
• Repeat with the remaining pasta, bringing the water back to a rolling boil before adding the second batch.
• Pat the pasta dry with paper towels before filling it.
• Place about 1/4 cup of the spinach filling close to one end of a noodle (if using lasagna, use the long end), shaping it into a compact log.
• Starting with a long end, roll up the noodle, then cut it in half crosswise.
• Place the filled noodles seam side down in the prepared dish.
• Repeat with remaining noodles and filling.
• The filled noodles should fit snugly in a single layer.
• Stir the reserved 1/2 cup of spinach and any of the filling you may have left over into the served sauce and spread evenly over the cannelloni.
• Sprinkle the cheese evenly on top.
• Bake till the cannelloni are hot and the top is browned and bubbly, about 25 minutes.
• If you'd like the top more browned, pass the dish under the broiler for a few minutes.
• Let cool for a few minutes then serve straight from the baking dish.

MEAT AND SPINACH CANNELLONI

Steps:

• Pour the hot stock over the porcini in a small heatproof bowl. Let stand until softened, about 20 minutes. Drain the porcini, reserving the liquid. Rinse the porcini to remove sand and grit, and strain the soaking liquid through a coffee filter or a double thickness of cheesecloth. Reserve the mushrooms and liquid separately.
• Preheat the oven to 400° F. Cut the pork into 2-inch pieces and place them in a roasting pan large enough to hold them comfortably. Add the carrots, celery, onion, rosemary leaves, and the reserved porcini. Season lightly with salt, drizzle 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over all, and toss well. Pour in the wine. Roast until the wine has evaporated and the meat begins to brown, about 25 minutes. Continue roasting, adding 1/2 cup of the reserved mushroom-soaking liquid every 15 minutes or so, until the meat and vegetables are well browned and the meat is tender, about 2 hours. At the end of the roasting, there should be about 1 1/2 cups of liquid in the roasting pan. Drain the meat and vegetables, reserving the liquid. Toss the mortadella in with the meats and vegetables and cool to room temperature.
• Meanwhile, in a wide skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Whack the garlic with the flat side of a knife, add it to the oil, and cook until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Add as much spinach as will fit comfortably into the pan. Continue cooking, stirring and adding the remaining spinach a large handful at a time when the spinach in the pan wilts enough to make room, until all the spinach is added. Season lightly with salt and pepper and cook until all the spinach is wilted and tender. Remove from the heat.
• Make the béchamel sauce.
• Pass the meat-and-vegetable mixture through a meat grinder fitted with a disc with holes about 1/4 inch in diameter. Stir in 1/4 cup of the grated cheese and 1/2 cup of the béchamel sauce, blending the filling well as you do. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Beat the eggs until foamy, then stir them into the ground-meat mixture.
• Preheat the oven to 375° F. Ladle about 3/4 cup of the béchamel sauce in an even layer over the bottom of each of two 13 × 9-inch baking dishes. Spoon 1/3 cup of the filling in a more or less even mound along one edge of one of the pasta squares. Roll up into a tube, pressing and evening out the tube as you roll. Arrange the cannelloni into the prepared baking dish, side by side and seam side down. Divide the remaining béchamel evenly between the two baking dishes, smoothing it into an even layer over the cannelloni. Drizzle about three-quarters of the reserved meat-cooking liquid over the cannelloni, dividing it evenly. Sprinkle the tops with 1 cup of the grated cheese. Cover the dishes with aluminum foil and bake 20 minutes. Uncover the baking dishes and bake until the tops are golden brown and bubbling, about 20 minutes. If the tops are browning unevenly, rotate the baking dishes from side to side and shelf to shelf, then continue baking. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Lift the cannelloni to warm plates with a spatula and spoon some of the sauce over each serving. Pass additional grated cheese if you like.

SPINACH FILLING FOR CANNELLONI, RAVIOLI AND TORTELLINI

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a saucepan and saute the onion and garlic until golden; steam spinach until well wilted; remove from heat, cool enough to handle, and squeeze dry.
• Combine onion mixture and spinach; stir in cheeses and beat in seasonings, eggs and parsley; refrigerate until ready to stuff pasta.